Nabisco

Back in mid-November, Kristyn Pomranz of Bravo’s The Feast blog invited her readers to identify the “mystery flavor” of the recently released Mystery Oreo. Guesses included “Key lime pie,” “Fruity Pebbles,” “lemon salt water taffy.” A woman who worked for Mondelez (but who confessed to having no insider knowledge) said “Chiquita Banana lady’s hat.”

Nobody guessed “heart of gold” which, we realize isn’t a flavor, but we’re trying to make a bigger point here.

Labor 411’s goal has always been to provide a guide to products and services in the U.S. that support good jobs in this country, as with our BuyBlue campaign, which is why we’ve been troubled over a certain favorite cookie of ours lately: Oreo. Mondelez, Oreo’s parent company, recently decided to shut down a storied Chicago Oreo plantand head to Mexico. This means checking the label on those blue packages is now a must in order to find out if it is domestically produced. But it doesn’t end with Oreo.

Hundreds of American workers were recently laid off at Nabisco’s Southwest Side plant in Chicago; 600 to be exact. Those workers were paid a living wage, $25-$26 an hour, and thrived as a part of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union. Now those jobs are headed to Mexico in an attempt to cut costs via cheap, outsourced labor.